FALL MFA READING
We hope to see you all at our Fall MFA Reading this Thursday, November 3, at 7:30pm in the Cultural Center auditorium. Details HERE.

ALUMNI WORKSHOP

Our first alumni workshop will be held on Saturday, February 16, at 10am in the Cultural center conference room. Please email Beth as soon as possible to reserve a spot in the workshop. Please read the full event details HERE.

WINTER REGISTRATION

Registration for Winter Quarter 2013 begins on November 12. Please email Beth to set an appointment, if you have not already done so. Beth’s appointment schedule can be viewed HERE. The Winter Class Schedule and Textbooks can be viewed HERE. The first assignments for winter clusters and online classes can be viewed HERE. Clarification on the Colloquium requirement and 13th Class requirement (for in-class clusters) is available HERE.

LU MFA BLOG & FACEBOOK PAGE—ALUMNI & CURRENT STUDENTS

To stay updated on program events and information, you can follow our blog by clicking the Join This Site button at the bottom of the right column of our blog. The right column of our blog has been updated with a link to FAQs, more MFA Quick Links (Thesis Guidelines, MFA Faculty, etc.), Lindenwood Quick Links (portal, Lionmail, speaker series, etc.), Current Quarter quick links (class list, appointment schedule, etc.), and a photo slideshow. If you’re on Facebook, please Like our program page at https://www.facebook.com/LindenwoodMFAWriting. Thank you for supporting our program!

ISSUE 3 OF THE LINDENWOOD REVIEW—PHOTOS FROM OUR JOURNAL EDITING CLASS AT THE HISTORIC DANIEL BOONE HOME

The students in our Fall Quarter Journal Editing class have taken some beautiful pictures of the Boone Home. Some of these photos will be included in Issue 3 of our journal. Some of our favorite photos can be viewed HERE. Students who enroll in the Winter Quarter Journal Editing class will meet in the Cultural Center on Saturdays and will continue the wonderful work done by our first group of editorial assistants. Fall students are reading all submissions received from July through September, and Winter students will read submissions received from October through December.

STUDENT/ALUMNI GOOD NEWS & PUBLICATIONS

- Doria Baldwin has had a flash fiction piece accepted by Flash-Fiction-World.com

- Janna Vought has had a flash fiction piece accepted by Spry Lit, a poem accepted by The Survivor Anthology, two poems accepted by Circa Literary Review, two poems accepted by Rusty Nail, an essay accepted by Under the Gum Tree, and a Flash Fiction piece accepted by Tough Lit VII. She will complete her MFA in December and will begin the PhD program in Humanities/Aesthetic Studies with an emphasis in Creative Writing in January.

PUBLICATION OPPORTUNITIES
NOTE: Several journals below have a submission deadline of November 15.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Quick Links (prospective student info, etc.) are posted in the right column of this blog.How do I view my grades and transcripts?That information, along with your schedule, ledger, and more, is available in your student portal. Instructions for accessing your student portal are HERE.How do I access my Lindenwood email account (Lionmail)?Instructions for Lionmail are HERE.How do students register for classes?Registration information is available HERE.What are the extra requirements for the in-class accelerated cluster program?

To earn 9 credit hours in 12 weeks, by attending class one night per week from 6-10pm, there are several extra requirements. First, your first class meeting each quarter will be on a Saturday morning at 10am, and you will have a first assignment that is due at that class. Secondly, each quarter your instructor will arrange a "13th class," which often will be attending a local literary reading. Thirdly, for each 9-credit cluster you take, you will complete a Colloquium, which is an out-of-class learning experience. You will type up a 2-page response to a learning event (an additional literary reading, a literary event, or another type of cultural event with permission from your advisor), and you will email this response to your advisor each quarter (or turn it in at your quarterly registration appointment). Read full colloquium guidelines HERE.

What is the difference between the 13th class and the Colloquium requirement?

The 13th class is an extra class meeting or group event (such as attending a literary reading) that is arranged by your instructor for the cluster you are taking. This event and assignment details will differ for each cluster according to the instructor's requirements, and it will count toward your cluster grades.

A Colloquium is a 2-page paper (double-spaced) that you turn in to your advisor for each 9-credit cluster you take; this is an event that is separate from your cluster's requirements. Your 13th class event may not be used as your colloquium event. Colloquia are an accreditation requirement for our accelerated program and do not affect your cluster grades; they are a way to enrich your learning experience as you earn 9 credit hours in 12 weeks. All colloquia must be turned in to your advisor two months before your graduation from the MFA Program. If you have any questions, contact the Program Director. Full colloquium guidelines are available HERE.

Do online classes require colloquia?

No, our 3-credit online classes do not have a colloquium requirement. Only the in-class 9-credit in-class clusters require colloquia. Our 3-credit online classes are held for 11 weeks each quarter; there is no “13th class” requirement for online classes.

How do I navigate the new Lindenwood website?Instructions are available HERE. If you have additional questions that should be added to the FAQ post, please email Beth.

The first LU MFA Alumni Workshop will be held on Saturday, February 16, at 10am in the Lindenwood University Cultural Center conference room (across from the auditorium).

Participants will email one prose piece (a short story, a personal essay, or a novel chapter) or a group of 5 poems to Beth by Friday, February 8. Alumni will receive workshop feedback from Beth, from the students in the winter journal editing class (who will have had lots of experience reading and responding to TLR submissions), and from each other. For participation in the workshop, we ask each alum to purchase one copy of Issue 2 of The Lindenwood Review at the reduced rate of $5.00. We ask alumni who already own a copy to please purchase a copy at the workshop to give to a friend. Please note: pieces discussed in workshop may not be submissions that are under consideration for Issue 3 of The Lindenwood Review, to avoid a conflict of interest. We welcome participants to submit their workshop pieces to Issue 4, when a new group of editorial assistants will review submissions. (Alumni may submit work to TLR, but current students may not.)

To reserve a spot in the workshop, email Beth as soon as possible to confirm that you will be participating. Please also indicate whether you will be workshopping a short story, an essay, a novel chapter, or poetry. Then you will email Beth your work by February 8.

If enough alumni (and current students who will become alumni) are interested in participating in workshops, we will continue to offer at least one alumni workshop each year. We will also consider offering a full novel workshop in the future, if enough alumni are interested; please let Beth know if you have a novel draft that you would like to workshop next year.

Contact Beth with any questions, and we look forward to reading your work!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Please note that beginning with spring quarter enrollment, we have a new online registration process. View all details about this new process here. This information has also been emailed to your LionMail account.

You may now hold your advisor consultation by email (using LionMail) or phone; you may still meet in person if you prefer. After your advisor consultation, you will register yourself for coursework through your student portal. Details and instructions are here.

Check your student portal transcript if you do not know how many credit hours you have completed.

For those who still wish to meet in person before registering for coursework: Wednesday in-person appointments are held by appointment only at the Wentzville campus; all other in-person appointments are held by appointment at the Cultural Center in St. Charles.

First assignment:
Please send an email introducing yourself, telling me about why you chose to enroll in this course and what you hope to learn. Please be sure to include mention of your favorite poets of any era, confessional or otherwise, and why. I would also like you to attach (or cut and paste) a favorite of one of your own original poems, with comments on why you feel it is representative of your work, and notes about anything you were going for artistically, stylistically, thematically, etc.

First Assignment:
Where are you going? Where have you been?
Please write 2 pages or so detailing (somewhat) who you are as a writer. I’d like to know what made you write in the first place, how your writing has changed/matured/etc. over the years, and where you see yourself going in the future. If you have specific goals for this cluster, please feel free to share them. We’ll be reading these out loud during the first session as a way of getting to know one another before the workshop begins.

*Do NOT log into Blackboard until Monday, January 14, and you MUST post on 1/14*

On Monday, January 14, log into Blackboard (see instructions below), click on your course name, and then click on the FIRST ASSIGNMENT menu tab at the left of the screen. You will click on the discussion board link and post a statement in the discussion indicating that you were able to log in to Blackboard successfully. This MUST be done on Monday, January 14.

Then you will click on the GETTING STARTED menu tab at the left of the screen and read the course content indicated (Class Requirements, etc.).

Then you will click on the WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS menu tab at the left of the screen, and then click on Week 1. There you will see all of your assignments for the first week of class and their due dates. Online students are required to post/participate on Blackboard three times per week.

Each week during the quarter, you will click on WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS and then on the appropriate week’s folder to view the assignments and due dates for the week.

If you have any questions or problems, you can contact the instructor at the email address listed above, or you can click on Help at the top of the screen (the question mark icon) to contact the Lindenwood Online Support Center.

Instructions for Logging in to Blackboard for Online Classes:
• Go to www.lindenwood.edu
• Hover your mouse over Blackboard in the white bar at the top of the screen
• Click on Access Blackboard
• Log in with the same user ID and password you use for your Lionmail account (if you have not activated your Lionmail account, go to www.lindenwood.edu, hover over Email at the top of the screen, and click on Find Your Username; follow the instructions to get your user ID and password)
• Once you are logged in, click on your course name to enter the class site
• If you have any problems, click on Help at the top of the Log In page or contact your instructor

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

This fall, our journal editing class is discussing submissions to Issue 3 of The Lindenwood Review at the Historic Daniel Boone Home. Editorial assistants Cathy Essner, Virginia Newell, and Leca Barker have taken photographs of the village for possible inclusion in our journal. Here are some of our favorites:

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Join us on Thursday, November 8, at 7:30pm, in the Lindenwood University Cultural Center auditorium, for our Fall MFA Reading. Lindenwood University MFA in Writing Program alumni and soon-to-be graduates will read from their fiction and poetry. Light refreshments will be served and books will be available for purchase. This event is free and open to the public.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Winter registration begins November 12. Beth's registration appointment schedule can be viewed HERE. Email Beth to set an appointment. Fully online MFA students should email Beth any day during registration, beginning 11/12, to register for courses with her via email. All other students must meet in person with Beth to register.

Friday, August 10, 2012

ALUMNI INTERESTED IN MINI-WORKSHOPS
Any alumni who would be interested in taking part in a mini-workshop session with your peers (probably on a Saturday at 10am), please email Beth. If enough writers are interested, I will arrange a time for this to take place at the Cultural Center. I would also be willing to create a private blog for online alumni workshopping, if there are enough writers who would be interested in doing this.

Alumni who took part in the MFA Graduate Reading in June: The DVD copies have now been delivered by LUTV, and they are in my office. Please stop by to pick up your copy when you have a chance.

REGISTRATION FOR FALL QUARTER 2012
Fall registration begins August 27. My registration schedule can be viewed here. Please email me if you need to set an appointment or change an appointment time (any time listed on the schedule with no name next to it is available).

The fall MFA class schedule is available here. For the first time, we are offering four online classes instead of three, to allow more options for online students. Two of the classes are a fiction craft class and a fiction workshop, and we are very happy to announce that both will be taught by the newest addition to our LU MFA Faculty, Tony D’Souza. For those who have not yet read Tony’s work, here is a snapshot of his bio (pasted from our Faculty page available here):

Tony D'Souza, MFA, University of Notre Dame
• Author of three novels: Whiteman, The Konkans, and Mule
• Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for Whiteman
• The Konkans was called a best novel of the year by the Washington Post
• Mule was recently optioned for film by Warner Bros
• Tony has contributed to The New Yorker, Esquire, Playboy, Salon, Granta, Mother Jones, McSweeney's, and is the recipient of a Guggenheim, an NEA, and an O. Henry
• Website

NEW STRUCTURE FOR JOURNAL EDITING CLUSTERS
On the fall schedule post, you will note that Journal Editing is being offered differently this year. In the past, we have offered one section of journal editing per year, and those students read all of the submissions to The Lindenwood Review (approximately 1000). This year, we will offer three separate sections of journal editing to work toward the production of our third issue (fall, winter, and spring quarters). This fall will be the pre-production class, and it will be offered as a hybrid course: six class meetings will be held on Saturdays at the Historic Daniel Boone Home campus (see picture and link on the fall schedule post), and six class meetings will be held online. Along with reading, discussing, and helping choose submissions for publication, students in this fall class will also assist with pre-production duties (such as sending out the Call for Submissions). There will also be a writing exercise component in all three journal editing clusters this year; for fall, the Boone Home will lend a writers’ retreat feel to our writing atmosphere. If you have any questions about the three sections of the journal editing cluster, or about the hybrid Boone Home cluster, feel free to contact Beth.

LITERARY EVENTS
Two readings will be held this weekend:
- River Styx reading at the St. Louis Art Museum tonight, Fri. 8/10, at 7:30pm
- LU MFA student Dena Molen will read on Saturday, 8/11, at the Firecracker Press Reading Series at 2pm, 2838 Cherokee Street, St. Louis MO 63118

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Issue 2 of The Lindenwood Review is now available. Twenty-five outstanding writers have contributed six stories, five essays, and nineteen poems for this issue, and we are very proud of the strong work that we have published.

We will have an online presence for issue 2 on the Lindenwood University website soon, but in the meantime, copies may be purchased by mail for $7 each. Please include your mailing address and make checks payable to Lindenwood University. Mail to:

For years there was a man who sat on the cracked sidewalk outside the wall that surrounded St. Joseph's Academy for Gifted and Talented Young Men. He sat legs stretched out, back to the ivy-covered stone wall, beating a rhythm with a tin can on the sidewalk to the opening and closing of the wooden gate. He came to the spot as though attending the school from that position, arriving before the first bell, staying until the last of the staff had pushed their way out of the yard. He was there for so long that regular instructors and permanent staff came to know him. Although he did not beg, people dropped money into his can, brought him food and an occasional cup of coffee.

One day, the head of the music department, Dr. Abe Ada, bent closer, a little closer still, recognized the man beneath the scraggly beard and uncombed hair, and brought him inside.

***

To read the rest of this story, purchase issue 2 of The Lindenwood Review.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Monday, June 4, 2012

REGISTRATION:
Summer registration is now underway. My appointment schedule can be viewed HERE. Please email Beth if you need to set or change an appointment. The summer class schedule and textbooks are available HERE.

GRADUATION CEREMONY:
Congratulations to the 18 MFA students who walked in the May 2012 graduation ceremony! Pictures and video clips are available HERE.

MFA GRADUATE READING—FRI. JUNE 15 AT 7PM:
Recent and soon-to-be graduates of the Lindenwood University MFA in Writing Program will read from their work on Friday, June 15, from 7:00pm to 8:30pm in the Cultural Center auditorium. This event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be provided. Readers include Tara Brewer, Cindy DuBois, Chris Duggan, Tom Horan, Grady Manus, Jessica Muckerman-Presson, and Craig Vaughn. Issue 2 of The Lindenwood Review will be available for purchase at the reduced rate of $5.00, and alumni Dacia Wilkinson and Keith Hoerner will also have books available for purchase at this event. Please support your fellow writers and the program by attending this event and bringing your friends and family; it can also fulfill a colloquium requirement for current students. READERS: If you have not already done so, please email me your bio as soon as possible. Thanks!

REGISTER FOR THE TEACHING COLLEGE WRITING SEMINAR TO HELP SUPPORT THE LINDENWOOD REVIEW:
A 2-hour seminar on Teaching College Writing will be held on Saturday, August 4, at 10:00am in the Cultural Center conference room. Pre-registration is required, and registrants are asked to purchase two issues of The Lindenwood Review (with the request to give the second copy to someone who may enjoy it) to help support the journal and the program (checks should be made payable to Lindenwood University). Alumni are welcome to register, and current students who register may use this event for a colloquium. All details are available HERE. If you have any questions, please email Beth.

CONGRATULATIONS TO MFA STUDENTS AND ALUMNI ON THEIR RECENT PUBLICATIONS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

Dacia Wilkinson: her novel A Kiss in the Rain has been published by Mockingbird Lane Press and can be purchased on Amazon.com.

Alan Zacher: his novel I’m No P.I. has been published by Post Mortem Press and can be purchased from the Post Mortem Press website.

Janna Vaught: an essay has been accepted by the Essays for Hope anthology; a nonfiction piece was accepted by bioStories; three poems were accepted by Rusty Nail.

Chris Duggan: a story has been accepted by Flash Forward Press for their flash fiction anthology.

Grady Manus: three pieces have been accepted by Haiku Journal; a prose poem has been accepted by Short Story Nation.

Keith Hoerner: Missing the Mark is now available for purchase through Amazon.com; a flash fiction piece was accepted by the Journal of Microliterature.

Chris Scribner: another of his poems has been accepted by the journal LIGHT: The Quarterly of Light Verse.

Cindy DuBois: a painting based on one of her thesis stories was juried and exhibited at Soulard Art Market's Carnivalesque Exhibit.

Courtney Frey: now in charge of writing Press Releases for the Vet Tech Institute.

James Frey: hired as an adjunct instructor by Brown Mackie College.

Dena Molen: participated in literary readings with Bad Shoe and Second Friday Notes

CONGRATULATIONS to MFA Faculty member Kelli Allen, whose poetry collection Otherwise, Soft White Ash will be published by Fjords New Book Series in October 2012. Visit Kelli’s website at www.kelli-allen.com.

STUDENTS, ALUMNI, & FACULTY: Please email me your announcements of any publications, accomplishments, or writing-related jobs, and I will be happy to announce it in our quarterly email update. A listing of this information is also maintained for program assessment documentation. Thanks for keeping us updated on your good news!

* South 85 Journal, a new semi-annual online literary journal that publishes fiction, non-fiction, poetry, reviews, and criticism by new, emerging, and established writers, is accepting submissions. View guidelines at http://www.south85journal.com/.

* Precipitate: Journal of the New Environmental Imagination: Submission guidelines available here.

* Split Oak Press is accepting submissions for an Adrienne Rich tribute anthology, to be edited by Katharyn Howd Machan, with a forward by Judy Grahn. Details for these submissions are available at www.splitoakpress.com.

* Lunch Ticket: submit original works of fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and art and images to www.lunchticket.org. Lunch Ticket is a new biannual online literary journal produced by the MFA community of Antioch University Los Angeles.

* Five Quarterly: Submit work now through June 15, 2012 for our inaugural summer issue. Visit us at www.fivequarterly.org.

* Project Comic Con: St. Louis will be held at the Westport Sheraton Lakeside Chalet the weekend of June 9th & 10th. This is a good opportunity for budding artists/writers interested in working in the comic/graphic novel industry. Publishers from Zenescope and Avatar Press will be reviewing portfolios and accepting submissions from local artists. Additionally, Jim Valentino, Vice-President of Image Comics will be in attendance. There will also be a “Pro/Am Sketch Jam” on Friday, June 8th, giving local artists the opportunity to sketch live models alongside professional comic artists, as well as creator panels coordinated by Pete Coogan, Adjunct Professor at Webster University and Director of the St. Louis based Institute for Comics Studies.

WELCOME to our new students! We are excited to have you join our writing community. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Beth by email or phone.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Recent and soon-to-be graduates of the Lindenwood University MFA in Writing Program will read from their work. Free and open to the public. Light refreshments provided. Readers include Tara Brewer, Cindy DuBois, Chris Duggan, Tom Horan, Grady Manus, Jessica Muckerman-Presson, and Craig Vaughn. Issue 2 of The Lindenwood Review will be available for purchase at the reduced rate of $5.00, and alumni Dacia Wilkinson and Keith Hoerner will also have books available for purchase at this event.

A 2-hour seminar on Teaching College Writing—focused toward MFA students/alumni interested in teaching Freshman Composition, but open to anyone who would like to attend—will be held on Saturday, August 4, from 10am to 12pm at the Lindenwood Cultural Center Conference Room. The seminar will be led by Beth Mead, LU MFA Program Director.

To help support The Lindenwood Review, this seminar will be offered to registrants for the purchase of two issues of TLR Issue 2 ($7 each, for a total of $14, checks made payable to Lindenwood University), with the request that one of the issues (or both, if you already own a copy) be given to a friend, family member, co-worker, acquaintance, or left in your dentist’s office waiting room, or in some other way shared with someone who would be interested in reading it. More than two issues may be purchased at the reduced rate of $5 each to further support the journal if desired.

Registrants will receive a portfolio of handouts detailing the topics covered in the seminar, a Lindenwood pen, and their purchased issues of The Lindenwood Review. Light refreshments will be served, and attendees are also welcome to bring their own drinks and snacks. At the conclusion of the seminar, a Question & Answer session will be held, and registrants may also bring a CV for personal feedback from the seminar leader if desired (please plan to stay later than 12pm if you would like individualized CV feedback).

The seminar will cover both Getting the Job and Teaching the Class:

Getting the Job

creating a CV/resume

writing a cover letter

applying for adjunct positions

preparing for the interview

building experience to work toward applying for full-time positions

Teaching the Class

writing a syllabus

structuring lesson plans

managing class time

five things freshman comp students need to learn

common errors in grammar and punctuation

sample assignments

sample in-class activities

sample prewriting exercises

using creative writing experience as a tool for engaging students

Current LU MFA students and other LCIE students who register for this event may use it to fulfill the summer quarter colloquium requirement.

TO REGISTER:
Mail the information below, along with a check for $14 (made payable to Lindenwood University), to Lindenwood University, Attn: Beth Mead, 400 N. Kingshighway, St. Charles, MO 63301.

NAME

EMAIL (registration confirmation will be sent via email; please print clearly or type)

NUMBER OF TLR2 ISSUES YOU ARE PURCHASING (minimum of 2, for a total of $14; make checks payable to Lindenwood University; issues will be distributed at the seminar)

WHAT ASPECT OF TEACHING COLLEGE WRITING ARE YOU MOST INTERESTED IN LEARNING ABOUT AT THE SEMINAR?